Ranchi, Oct 27: The Jharkhand Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday, approved a series of major infrastructure, healthcare, rural development and welfare initiatives, led by a ₹607.03-crore mega-lift irrigation scheme, a ₹545.38-crore 500-bed hospital at MGM Medical College in Jamshedpur, and ₹284.17 crore for infrastructure at Jharkhand Medico City. The decisions also include the installation of 7,890 handpumps across 263 blocks, ₹184.52 crore for electrifying un-electrified hamlets and households in tribal-dominated villages, and four major road projects worth a combined ₹144.71 crore.
The Neemdih-Kukdu Mega-Lift Irrigation Scheme will provide irrigation facilities to Neemdih and Kukdu blocks of Seraikela-Kharsawan district by lifting water from the Chandil Reservoir and transporting it through an underground pipeline network. The Cabinet also approved the installation of 7,890 handpumps during the 2026-27 financial year at an estimated cost of ₹96.55 crore to address drinking water needs across the state.
In healthcare, the Cabinet granted revised administrative approval of ₹545.38 crore for a 500-bed hospital building at MGM Medical College in Jamshedpur. It also cleared ₹284.17 crore for associated infrastructure at Jharkhand Medico City and approved the procurement and installation of a catheterisation laboratory at Sadar Hospital, Ranchi, at a cost of ₹9.90 crore. The Cabinet further approved the settlement of outstanding liabilities under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.
Four road projects received approval: widening, strengthening and reconstruction of the 7.783-km Barkitand-Jabardaha-Nimayitand-Shankardih-Marjugundi road in Giridih district at ₹40.09 crore; reconstruction of the 7.8-km Madhalo (NH-19)-Alakdiha road via Khetko at ₹37.47 crore; improvement of the 42.4-km Pataldih-Deori-Ganwa-Satgawan road (MDR-84) at ₹37.07 crore; and reconstruction of the 5.67-km Adarmahatu-Banku road in Ranchi at ₹30.09 crore. The works include relevant provisions for bridges, land acquisition, utility shifting, plantation and rehabilitation. The projects also involve transferring roads from the Rural Works Department to the Road Construction Department.
The Cabinet approved ₹32.17 crore for renovation of the Lotiya Reservoir Scheme in Hazaribagh district and lining of its main canals. It also sanctioned ₹26.78 crore for the construction of two line feeder bays at the 400/200 kV Grid Substation at Chaibasa. Both decisions add to the state’s planned investment in water and power infrastructure.
For tribal and rural development, the Cabinet approved an estimated ₹184.52 crore under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan to electrify un-electrified hamlets and households in tribal-dominated villages. It also approved a 30-year paid lease of 147.05 acres of government land in Chakla village, Latehar district, to Hindalco Industries Limited for the Chakla Coal Project.
The Cabinet cleared a new animal feed plant in Godda with an initial capacity of 50 metric tonnes per day, expandable to 100 metric tonnes per day. To be implemented through the Jharkhand Milk Federation under the state’s Milk Collection, Processing and Marketing Scheme, the project has an estimated cost of ₹51.49 crore, with ₹30 crore approved for expenditure in 2026-27. The Jharkhand Watershed Scheme, comprising 28 projects sanctioned under NABARD-RIDF Tranche XXV, was extended until March 31, 2027. The remaining ₹58.62 crore was approved from state resources, in addition to the previously sanctioned state share of ₹70.77 crore.
The Cabinet approved an additional ₹128.31 crore for activities at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, Jharkhand Balika Residential Schools and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Residential Schools. It also cleared internship training for students of government polytechnics and government women’s polytechnics through Jharkhand Government Tool Rooms in Ranchi, Dumka and Ramgarh, following relaxation of the relevant financial rules.
Other education-related decisions included approval of the Statute for Health Care Management and Mental Wellbeing-2026 for students at state-run universities and restructuring of need-based post groups at the Jharkhand Council of Educational Research and Training and its subordinate District Institutes of Education and Training. The Cabinet also approved the Jharkhand State AYUSH Academic Health Service Rules, 2026, covering recruitment, promotion and other service conditions.
The Cabinet approved a framework for fortified take-home nutrition under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 for beneficiaries of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls. The procurement plan provides for selection of manufacturers and suppliers through tendering, contracts for three years with a possible one-year extension, and the participation of multiple successful bidders through bid splitting. The Cabinet also approved a partial relaxation of the prescribed protein-quality standard for the food supplied under the scheme.
In a measure affecting Public Distribution System shopkeepers, the Cabinet approved a change to the Jharkhand Legal Metrology Rules, 2011, intended to exempt them from verification and stamping fees for electronic weighing machines used in their shops. It also approved changes to the validity and renewal provisions for Fire Safety Certificates.
The Cabinet cleared the Jharkhand Mineral Exploration and Block Development Policy, 2026, which sets out an operational framework for the exploration, development and mining of mineral blocks through state entities. It also approved amendments to the schedule of the Jharkhand Mineral-Bearing Land Cess Act, 2024, and the formulation of the Jharkhand Waste Water (Amendment) Policy, 2026, and the Jharkhand Municipal Land/Building Transfer Surcharge Rules, 2026.
The state government approved a draft agreement with West Bengal concerning water sharing in the Mayurakshi sub-basin and modalities for joint control of the Masanjore Dam in the Mayurakshi sub-basin and the Tenughat Dam in the Damodar sub-basin. The Cabinet also approved the development of an integrated Land Acquisition Portal to manage the acquisition process for state projects, including land acquired previously.
Among administrative decisions, the Cabinet approved the formation and operational rules of the Jharkhand Expert Committee-2026 to engage subject experts for research and technical consultation across government departments. It also approved a proposal to frame bye-laws for the Jharkhand Institute of Fiscal Studies, with the aim of registering it as an autonomous institution under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
Dr Harishwar Dayal, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at St Xavier’s College, Ranchi, and his team were nominated to prepare the Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement and Medium Term Fiscal Plan for 2027-28. A payment of ₹18.38 lakh was sanctioned for the work. The Cabinet also approved permission for government employees to travel abroad, revised monthly honorariums for contractual regional officers and personnel under the Viksit Bharat-G Ram Ji scheme, and changes to the contractual engagement of highly skilled professionals in the Finance Department’s Project Management Unit.
The Cabinet approved amendments to the State Probation Service Rules, Sections 9 and 21 of the Jharkhand Shops and Establishments Act, 1953, and Rule 131 of the Jharkhand Treasury Code, 2016. It also approved the withdrawal of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Jharkhand Amendment) Bill, 2019, passed by the state legislature on July 24, 2019.
Several decisions concerned government employees and compliance with judicial orders. The Cabinet approved amendments to 11 departmental resolutions relating to pensionary and other benefits for daily-wage employees, as well as service regularisation and admissible retirement benefits in multiple cases. It approved pension and related benefits for certain retired employees based on their initial appointment dates, changes to appointment dates and seniority for two Deputy Collectors, and notional promotion for a retired Executive Engineer with a corresponding revision of terminal benefits.
Other service-related approvals included regularisation and benefits for former employees and petitioners in cases involving the Industrial Training Institute in Sahibganj, the Special Land Acquisition Office in Deoghar and other departments. The Cabinet also approved setting aside the dismissal order of an official in the case of former government officer Dr Vijay Shankar Narayan Singh, in light of a Jharkhand High Court order. It further approved adjustment of National Pension System contributions for eight petitioners against pension or pension arrears, creation of five shadow posts of Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) in the Water Resources Department, and payments to 14 petitioners in accordance with a National Lok Adalat award.
The Cabinet decided to dissolve existing committees dealing with pay anomalies, uniformity in service conditions and ACP/MACP matters for state employees and replace them with a new high-level committee. It also approved the transfer of land free of cost to the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development for a regional training centre, and sanctioned ₹1.18 crore to Ernst & Young LLP for consultancy work related to CCTV installation in police stations.
Other approvals included a ₹2.5-crore advance from the Jharkhand Contingency Fund for incentive payments to extremists who surrender, and the First Supplementary Statement of Expenditure for 2026-27. The Cabinet also approved special sittings of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly on November 25 and 26, 2026.
The decisions span infrastructure investment, public services, welfare programmes, mineral development, administrative reforms and court-directed service matters, with several projects carrying substantial financial commitments for the 2026-27 financial year and beyond.
